Day 2 - May 30, 2010

Rise and shine @ 6:05 a.m. to the street sweeper in Roswell, NM.

We made a quick trip into Wally World to get refreshed. After a quick snack of muffins & a pear, we got back on the road at 6:40 A.M. We had decided that we were going to head towards Durango.

In route, we kept seeing billboards for Apache Nugget Casino -- we joked about stopping. We saw the tippees first and then the inflatable building came into our sights. Yes you read it right, an inflatable casino.

I asked Deb how we were looking on fuel prior to getting into Albuquerque. I fell asleep only to be woken up by Deb, in the middle of nowhere, asking how far we can go when the low fuel light dings.

Evidently she was worried about traffic and construction and forgot to stop for gas. According to the truck, we were good for another 18 miles. The GPS showed 11 miles but we weren't sure if the truck was accurate or if Lucky's Gas Station/Tire Center/Grocery Store/Hair Care Center was still in business. Luckily we made it & put in 24.99 gallons of gas in a 25 gallon tank. Deb was glad that she didn't have to walk while I stayed with the truck.

After hearing that another campsite was full in NM, we decided to call ahead to Mesa Verde National Park to check for availability (duh ..... it was Memorial Weekend). The only sites they had was w/o electricity so we reluctantly reserved it for $24.00. The GPS then routed us onto a two lane goat trail into CO.

As we pulled into Mesa Verde National Park, we had to pay another $15.00 even though we had a campsite reserved. Hummmmm, another $5.00 & we could have stayed at a motel. Our hopes were to unload the bikes at the campsite and enjoy riding through the park .... that is until we saw the signs boasting 10 miles of road construction, loose gravel and uneven surfaces. We were having 2nd thoughts especially after a 500 mile day on the back side of a 700 mile day. Riding the bikes would have been doable but we both agreed that switchbacks and loose gravel mixed with mental fatique wouldn't be the best combo.

We decided to fire up hotdogs on the grill, unhook the trailer and take a little nap. You'd think Deb would have learned from the noise in the parking lot the night before but apparantely ear plugs are necessary to prevent hearing the birds chirping & to block the chatter from neighboring campers. I on the other hand once again didn't hear a thing. After a couple of hours of rest & daylight left to be had, we saw what Mesa Verde had to offer. This turned out to be spectacular sceneries and one hell of a sunset.

Although the park warned you of bears, none were found, only a few deer & a wild kitty were observed. After searching high & low for an electrical outlet, we finally found one in the laundry area. We found two outlets & snagged half of one right before a group of campers came in looking for a place to charge their electronics. We stayed up til 2 a.m. starting our blog.

Day 1 - May 29, 2010 Heading out

5:00 AM came might early but was necessary for our 7:00 AM departure. We still had loose ends to tie up like showering, cleaning out the truck & funky cooler, loading the truck, checking the tie downs, etc. We headed out at 6:54 AM in hopes to make the TWT Pie Run in Medina at 11:00 AM. Not even 5 miles down the road we had to pull over to adjust the bike straps and then we were off into Sealy for a quick breakfast at Jack In the Box.

After stopping at Buccee's for a bathroom break and some Go-Go juice and No thanks to a parade & festival,

we rolled into The Apple Orchard a little after 11:00 but we still managed to beat Becca & Jamey who were camping out down the road. We spent a couple hours visiting with fellow Two Wheeled Texans, picked up the SPOT tracker, had some pie and headed west.

I really wanted to make it out of Texas our first day but we still did not have a route etched in stone. We opted for I10 to Ft Stockton and then North towards NM.



We were making good time but it looked like we may be driving into a storm. I wonder if the camper leaks? luckily we didn't find out. Definately not the most scenic drive but we had already ridden NM and AZ on a previous trip and were looking to make time and see some new places. In Carlsbad we stopped at a Walmart for some groceries and were on the hunt for some shoe goo. I blew out my flip-flop but avoided the pop top, and it was in dire need of repair. Believe it or not they were out. It must be a standard problem in the area. We decided while we were stopped we would go ahead & have dinner.

Outside of Carlsbad the police had the highway shut down and it looked like there may have been a wreck. As we approached we realized it was a DWI check point.

If you wanted to commit a crime in Carlsbad, Saturday night around 8 would have been the time to do it. There must have been a dozen cops out there. After we played 50 questions with the cops we were back on the road. We made Roswell before 9PM and started looking for a spot to lay our heads. Due to the lack or rest areas the Walmart parking lot seemed as good as anyplace, or so we thought. We rearranged some gear and crawled in the back of the truck for some much needed rest. 700 miles towing a trailer takes it toll. Between the traffic, loud music from the cars, and loud pipes it was hard for Deb to sleep. Turns out it was a 24 hr Walmart and evidently the busiest one in New Mexico. I on the other hand didn't hear a thing and was even able to fix my shoe.

Preparing for Our Trip

There was alot that had to be taken care of prior to heading out on the trip. My first task at hand was general maintenance on the truck to include replacing the EGR valve. That it in itself is a separate blog and it's not PG rated. The other major item was some minor repairs to the super stylish chick magnet of a truck camper I scored off Craigslist for $150.oo. This would serve as our sleeping shelter on the trip as well as dry storage should we hit rain (if the caulking holds). Drop the dogs off at my sister's in Katy, some minor mods to the borrowed trailer, shopping, packing and then the only thing I would be missing was Deb.

Deb needed to get a new chain & sprocket for her bike, pack up for the trip and get to my place. On Thursday, her friends, Phillip and Dave, helped load the bike. As Deb was backing the bike out of the garage, Dave thought he'd give her a hand by picking up the back of the bike to turn her around. This, of course, freaked her out as she thought she was going to fall over. After the first attempt to load the bike, it was determined that a wheel chock would be a good idea. This was her first time to carry the bike in the back of her truck and the wheel chock made all the difference.

On Friday Deb worked all day and headed to my place when she got off. I started my morning off at 3AM for no apparent reason. As soon as the sun came up I was headed into town for supplies and was on a mission to find a Canon DSLR in my price range. With all the errands ran and no luck on the camera I headed home at 2 PM for a short nap and to start packing. At 7:45PM I woke up in a panic not sure if it was AM or PM. My "Short nap" turned into a long slumber. Deb arrived shortly after to find me still not packed, bike not loaded, truck not cleaned out, and gear everywhere. It was going to be a long night! We unloaded Deb's bike rather easily due to a make shift loading dock at my place and got both bikes onto the trailer rather easily.

It was Deb's Birthday and she was hungry so we hit up Sealy's finest (and only) Italian Restaurant. A plate of Salmon Rosata later were headed to Walmart and then home to pack. At 2 AM we decided to hit the rack. Our 7AM departure time was not looking good.